The government of Syria has made the move to block Facebook inside their borders.

According to sources speaking with Reuters, the official statement from officials is that they fear “Facebook could become a conduit for Israeli penetration of our youth”. Critics of the government say that it is really to cut off access to the outside world. This appears to be but one small symptom of a much larger problem for Syrians as Internet cafes are being ordered to limit their communication options, and there is even an Internet Political Crimes ward at one prison now.

Access to sites such as Hotmail and numerous newspapers has been blocked also, and this disturbing trend shows no signs of abating. It seems that the entire point is to keep the citizens of the country as isolated as much as possible.